Saturday, July 31, 2010

This past month i've seriously baked some of my bests, and some of my worsts. I figured i would share some with you today. (Mostly because i'm proud of my cupcakes, and because i want to rant about how much i hate my mom's camera... XD) Unfortunately, i've had to do most of my baking without eggs... because not only do i get strong cravings for vanilla cake with creamy icing... i also get cravings for eggs. Scrambled, poached, fried, baked, etc... point is, i'm lovin' me some eggs. So in the end, when i get those sweet cravings for chocolatey goodness, i end up having to use egg substitutes. (and not the nifty ones where it's powdered or comes in a carton. i mean literally, NO EGGS.)

Firstly, my family has managed to gather quite a collection of Jello boxes. (Church Christmas baskets, sudden urges, sales at Krogers, etc. etc. etc....) and those who know me well, know i despise jello. I get grossed out over the fact that it's made from bones (Abes Oddworld much?) yet i'm completely fine with eating Chicken periods... go figure, lol.

But i am a sucker for creamy desserts with pudding-like textures. (except for flan... blech.) So after some deep soul searching, (i.e: Intarwebz lurking) i came across this wonderful recipe from JustJenn for "Ice Cream Jello".

Second on my list (and ironically made in the same day as the Jello, because i was impatient and hungry...) is my "Pumpkin Pudding Pie". This was the lovechild of late-night hunger, rifling through the cabinets and the fridge, and 'moar intarwebz lurking'.

(Picture Courtesy of my mum's blurry camera...)

Looks neat and tidy doesn't it? I was rather proud of that teeny pie. Made it all by myself, mixed it by hand, baked it with no help from the momma, nothing.

weeeeeell.....except for one thing. Once again, we were out of eggs. So with some help from the 'great minds' on yahoo answers (and i use that term loosely...) i found that "2 tbsp of cornstarch works the same as one egg in pies!". LIES. LIES I TELL YOU! D:You know what cornstarch does? It draws moisture out of things. You know what eggs do? They give moisture to things, and make them taste eggy, and hold together better... Somewhere in my sleep deprived mind i thought using 6 tbsp of cornstarch was a good idea. Yes, i said six freaking tablespoons of cornstarch. I give you full permission to smack me. i deserve this.

Either way, the pie turned out alright. Yes, it was tasty, and yes it was pumpkiny... it was also somewhat chewy and rather awkward texture that i shall never be recreating ever again.

If you'd like you try your luck at this recipe and actually follow the directions and use eggs then you can find it [Here].

This next recipe actually DID have eggs! :-D I found it while oogling over the fantastic pictures on Foodgawker (somewhere you'll never see my blurry bits of yech) when i came across these Blondies.

Now, i've only had blondies twice. The first time, was made by one of my friend's amazing mum's late one night at like, 2:00 in the morning when we were all craving something sweet, but were poor high school kids. Mrs. Dewitt baked them up and i was completely sold. heck, at the time i'd never even heard of Blondies! So a year or so later i tried my hand at them, and baked up a batch (untasted mind you... baaaaaad idea for bakers and chefs everywhere!) and brought them to a family get-together where they sat untouched (because the hubbs has to bake like, 80 things for every gathering, lol). By the time anybody got to try them, they were safely sitting at home on the counter where my mum proceeded to take a huge bite... and realised i forgot to put sugar in them.... go me. lol.

But this year?? This year i was prepared. I had peanut butter. I'd been on a baking streak. I was 'learned up' on all this and knew what i was doing! and it totally showed.

(Photo Courtesy of my mum's blurry camera...)

Unfortunately, the picture doesn't do it justice, but these blondies were fan freaking tastic. They were literally gone from the pan in less than one night. (I give half this credit to the fact that i had eggs. If they were eggless? they would have sucked. big time).

Want to find out how i made these gorgeous bits of Peanut-buttery chocolatey heaven? Click [Here].

Last but not least, I give you my craving of the day.

Vanilla Cupcakes with some kind of icing! But once again, i was hit with the egglessness that is my fridge. The Good news? i didn't use cornstarch. the bad news? instead of sucking it up and asking my neighbors for one egg (yes, one single freaking egg!) I once again decided to trust yahoo answers and use some bizarre concoction... (1tbsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 2tbsp flour, and 3 tbsp water). What did this give me?

(Another photo courtesy of the blurrycam!)

Well, they are pretty... but they taste a LOT like baking soda... with a distinct lack of egg.

(And another!)

It did give me a chance to practice my piping skills though. (Which i am rather proud of tyvm... lol) I didn't get to make the frosting though. I've never had a good experience with making my own frosting... so i skipped it and bought a tub of Duncan Heinz Hershey's Chocolate.

2
comments:

Anonymous
said...

I just wanted to say...as the "Momma" you think that when she asked me to get her the icing she would have remembered to remind me to get her those so called "eggs" she's been lacking! lolAnd yes, my camera does leave alot to be desired. I apologize for this my daughter. But you still love me right?! :P